Candle in the Window
by Tenchi Knight
Summary: A candle in the window for the fallen...


Candle in the Window

A Kim Possible Short-fic

Disclaimer: Kim Possible and associated are copyright the Disney Corp. and are used without permission. This is a work of fanfiction for which the author receives no compensation in any form.

A young girl watched as her mother walked silently over to the window and lit a golden candle, the flame burning with a unique green tint.

"Mama, why are you lighting that?" The girl asked.

"To honor a woman who gave her life to save a lot of people. She was a hero." The redheaded woman said softly, a crystal tear sliding down her cheek.

"Mama, why are you crying?"

"Because, sweetie, she was very special to me." She said, her voice thick with emotion.

A blonde man walks into the room, looks at the candle for a moment, turns around and then walks back out.

"Mama, why did daddy look sad?" The little girl asked, feeling very nervous.

"Because it hurts daddy knowing that I still hold a candle for someone else." She said softly and gazed out into the night, knowing that the woman for who the candle burned had died seven years earlier, in the process saving both her life and her husband's from an explosion.

"Oh." She said, knowing better than to press the issue.

"It's time for bed, sweetie." She said and put her hand gently on the little girl's flame-red hair. "C'mon, let's get your teeth brushed."

"Kay, mama." She said and obediently followed her mother out of the living room, down the hall, and into the bathroom.

LATER THAT NIGHT…

Ron sat silently in his overstuffed chair, looking at the television with unseeing eyes, his mind occupied by the flickering candle in the window. It was only once a year that she lit it. Only on the anniversary of her death, the day when Shego proved Ron wrong and sacrificed herself to save both his and Kim's lives. But that candle was a reminder that there was someone that held a part of her heart, something he could never have and that brought out the green-eyed monster in the towhead.

"Seven years." He said quietly, looking over at a nearby calendar. "Why can't she let go? I mean I know that she saved our lives and everything but still…"

"Not everyone wants to let go." A voice said from the doorway and he looked over to see Kim standing there with a somewhat cross expression. "Some people want to remember the ones who were special to them. Some want to remember those who gave everything so that we could have anything."

"I know. But still… look at it from my perspective. My wife still holds a candle for a woman who used to try and kill us on a routine basis." He said.

"I light a candle for her." She countered. "One candle once a year."

"You hold a candle for her." He said, shaking his head. "I mention her name and you wince. I bring up her death and you tear up. Don't try and say that you didn't have feelings for her. I can see it in your eyes."

"But she's gone now so you can get over your petty jealousy."

"Petty? My wife is in love with a dead woman!" He said, losing his cool. "How do you think that I feel? Good? Happy? Feh! She took a piece of your heart with her when she went and quite frankly I feel justified in my jealousy of this situation."

"Would you rather we be dead and Sheila have never been born?" He countered and her eyes narrowed.

"I told you not to bring our daughter into this." She hissed. "Ron, I know that work has you really stressed out but you don't need to sink to the low of bringing our daughter into one of our discussions."

"And yet she's there, right in the middle of it." He barked. "You know it and I know it. If Shego hadn't killed herself to save us, Sheila would have never been born because we would have been dead."

"We could have all escaped." She countered. "Shego didn't have to die. She could have come with and we would have made it out alive. All of us. Sheila would still be born. So don't go saying that to me or so help me…"

"You'll what?" He asked, his voice dangerously low and his eyes narrowing.

"Sheila and I are going to my parents' house for the night." She said and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"You're going to your parents' house?" He asked slowly.

"Just for the night. Tomorrow will be another day." She said and he signed softly, shaking his head.

"No it won't." He said softly and Kim stopped, confused by his expression. "It won't be another day. It will be just like today. It will be a little different but it will have the same feelings: the anger, confusion, and frustration. They'll be a little cooled but still there and it will fester and eventually come to a head. Simply said, we walk away and we are over. Once you walk out once, it becomes easier to do again."

"And once you sink to using your daughter for leverage once and it becomes easier to do again." She answered, turning his own words against him as he seemed to enjoy doing as of late. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ron." She said and walked out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts. He sat in silence as he heard footsteps pass the room, walk down the stairs, and then the door opened and shut. The final straw, though, came when he heard the engine start.

"DAMNIT!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he felt everything start crumbling around him.

ONE YEAR LATER…

"Mommy?" A young girl said as she saw her mother take a golden candle from the cupboard.

"Yes, honey?" Kim said, looking down at the girl.

"Do I really have to go to daddy's house?" She asked. "I don't want to go."

"I know, honey, but that's the way the judge decided it would be," She said, "at least for now. When you get older, you'll be allowed to choose if you want to live with me or your daddy."

"Ok." She said with a nod. "Are you gonna light a candle for Her tonight?"

"Yes." Kim answered. "After the sun sets, I will."

"Will you light a candle for me too?" She asked and Kim's eyes filled with tears at the touching gesture.

"I will." Kim said and the girl smiled.

"Thanks, mommy." She said.

"Do you have your things?" Kim asked and the girl nodded, grabbing her school backpack and a small duffel bag. "All right, then. Ron should be here any…"

Kim stopped as she heard a knock on the front door.

"…Minute." She said and looked down at her daughter, "C'mon, sweetheart."

She walked into the front room and opened the door to reveal Ron standing outside in a well tailored suit and a fedora and sporting a goatee.

"Kim." He said softly, his eyes dimmer than normal. He must have been feeling more depressed lately, probably because it was nearing the one-year anniversary of the fight that led to the dissolution of their marriage.

"Ron." She said, keenly feeling the weight of the moment.

"Do you have everything, honey?" He asked, crouching down and giving the girl a hug.

"Yes daddy." She said with a nod.

"She did her homework already and it's in her notebook." Kim said and Ron nodded.

"Thanks…" He said and then stood once more, "C'mon, kiddo." He said and led her to the street where his BMW was waiting to take them back to his downtown apartment.

THAT EVENING…

Kim walked into the living room quietly, a box of matches in her hand and a somber expression on her face. She drew a match from the box and with a quick move struck it against the side of the box, touching off the flame. She then held the splinter of wood against first her daughter's candle and then her own, sighing softly before blowing out the burning match, leaving the room illuminated by the flickering green and yellow flames.

"Thank you, Shego." Kim said softly as she looked at the flame and then blinked as she saw a red flame appear in the street, its pale flickering light illuminating a pale face in the night. "It can't be…"

She rushed to the front door and opened it, half fearing she was right and half fearing she was wrong as she rushed outside.

"Shego?" Kim said as she neared the woman who was standing with a candle in hand.

"Hey there, Princess," She said softly. "Guess you're not the only one who's still holding a candle."

"You mean…"

"I've missed you." Shego said, walking over and embracing the redhead tightly. "So much I've missed you… but there was nothing I could do."

"What?"

"The explosion didn't kill me. It sure knocked me for a hell of a loop, though. When I came to, I was in a pocket underneath some rubble and managed to claw my way out." She said. "After that, I hiked six and a half miles east to a backup lair that I had set up about three years ago just in case something happened."

"I'm surprised that Doctor Drakken didn't go there instead of running south." Kim said.

"He didn't know." She said. "The only way to guarantee a secret stays secret is to be the only living person who knows."

"You mean other people knew?" Kim

"Two synthdrones but they were created as blanks so they didn't even have personalities… they kinda reminded me of the rest of the henchmen in that way…" She said and then laughed. "Once they had fulfilled their purpose, it was a simple process of taking care of them. They didn't see it coming."

"What did you do?"

"I shook up a can of Cola and threw it between them." She said. "And that was that."

"So they dissolved." She said and Shego nodded.

"It took me a couple weeks but I eventually recuperated but by that time, I had already seen that things would be better if I were still believed dead." She said. "Doctor Dee was dead, the explosion being blamed on him. I was a sacrificial hero and therefore was redeemed, if only in death, and received a posthumous pardon for my crimes because I made the choice to stay. You and Ron were closer than ever and had just gotten engaged. It was perfect—at least for you—so I stayed in hiding."

"So why did you come back?" Kim asked.

"I saw what happened between you and Ron. I've been keeping tabs on you… making sure you were all right… and found out about your candle ritual so I would come and watch you light the candle… it only seemed fitting at the time. Anyway, I heard you arguing and then saw you leave… and heard what he had to say about it."

"But that was a year ago."

"I wanted to approach you but your marriage was on the rocks. It wasn't the time or place for me to do that." Shego said. "I stayed back and watched everything from the sidelines because if I didn't, I would only complicate things that needed to be simplified."

"So you waited until a year had gone by and then came to me. What were you expecting?" She asked.

"I don't know." She said with a shake of her head. "Every time I've imagined this moment… it's been different. Sometimes you're angry that I hid… other times you're happy to see me… and sometimes…"

"Sometimes?" Kim prompted.

"Sometimes I'm brave enough to say something I should have done years ago." She said. "Something I have wanted to do ever since that day."

"And what is it?" Kim asked, leaning forward to hear what Shego has to say.

"Do you remember when I was Miss Go and I was about to tell you something but I got hit by the attitudinator so I went evil?" Shego asked and Kim nodded. "Well, what I was going to say is 'I love you, Kim Possible.'"

"What?" Kim gasped.

"I love you. I've loved you for years. I fell in love with you when we had our time together and I was Miss Go. Everything was perfect but then it was all ruined and I never could muster the courage to tell you that… at least until the day at the lair."

"You mean the explosion?"

"Yeah, I'd finally decided to come out and tell you and then he dragged me out to this place and everything went up in smoke." Shego said. "I lost nine years already because I was afraid to say that I love you but I do."

Kim stared at the green skinned woman for a long moment, her mind whirling, trying to come up with something to say to Shego but then she felt something well up from deep within her soul and listened to her voice speaking seemingly without her mind's control.

"I love you too, Shego."

"Sheila." Shego said.

"Sheila?" Kim repeated, confused.

"My name is Sheila." She said with a small smile. "Just like your daughter."

"She's named after you." Kim said softly, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I thought about how your brothers' names are similar to their hero name – Hego-Hector, Mego-Michael… and I thought about how Sheila was a beautiful name and that would be the source of your name."

"You were right." Shego said with a smile. "It is Sheila. Sheila Goeres. She-Go."

"I see…" Kim said. "That's a beautiful name."

"By that naming convention, you'd end up being Kigo." Shego said and Kim looked into Shego's eyes for a long moment.

"I think I could get used to that." Kim said. "That is… if I end up taking your name."

"Well it's either that or 'Shepo' and that just wouldn't fly." Shego said and Kim laughed, feeling better than she had in years.

"It's been too long, Shego. It really has been." Kim said softly, a warm smile on her face.

"Guess I've got to make up for lost time." Shego said and kissed Kim softly. "So what are you doing for the next fifty or so years?"

"Well… I did receive this offer from a beautiful woman to spend that time with her and really that sounds like a good idea to me." She said and kissed the older woman softly. "Other than that, I didn't really have anything planned."

"Then I guess that you're going to have to take that beautiful woman up on her offer." Shego said.

"I guess I will." Kim said with a small smile as she leaned against the taller woman and kissed her softly. "But first, let's get inside… it's getting a little chilly."

"Well we can't have you getting cold now can we?" Shego said, leading the redhead across the street, only to stop as a police patrol car rounded the corner and stopped, turning on his lights as he recognized the green-skinned woman. "Oh you have got to be kidding me." She said softly. "If it weren't for bad luck…"

"You're Irish?" Kim asked and Shego nodded.

"I am on my mother's side, yeah. Explains the attitude, doesn't it?"

"That and the fact you have older brothers." Kim said as the officer climbed out of his cruiser and walked towards them.

"You're Shego." He said, his hand resting on the grip of his pistol.

"I am. Is there a problem, Officer?" She asked.

"I thought you were dead."

"So did a lot of people." She replied. "Is there a problem?"

"You and… Kim Possible?" He asked, looking at the redhead.

"Yes, now is there a problem or can we go?" She snapped.

"Shego…" Kim said, putting a hand on her arm calmingly and then looked at the officer. "She isn't the same person she was before. She isn't interested in committing any more crimes and has been given a full pardon for her part in saving my life and Ron's so if you don't have any relevant questions, we're going to go."

"I just wanted to say thank you for saving Kim's life." He said. "She saved me eight years ago when I had a skiing accident and if you hadn't saved her, I would probably have lost my life up on that mountain."

"Oh. You're welcome…" She said, taken aback.

"If you ever need help, here is my card." He said, reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out a business card which he gave to Shego.

"Thanks." Shego said, still in a state of shock.

"No problem, after all you did save my life by proxy." He said, stepping back and over to his car. "Remember, if you're ever in trouble, call."

"I will." Shego said and he climbed back into his cruiser, turning off the lights as the women walked the rest of the way across the street and to the front door.

"Welcome home, Shego." Kim said as she opened the door and stepped inside, pulling the green woman with her.

"Welcome home…" Shego said softly. "I like the sound of that."

She smiled as the door shut behind her, feeling for the first time in a long time like she had somewhere she truly belonged.

THE END.

As always, comments and criticisms are gladly accepted and taken into careful consideration. Thank you for your time and I hope to read what you think of my work. ~TK


End file.
